We’re already starting to see some change because of the growing level of concern about plastic pollution.
This month my local supermarket ditched single use plastic bags and by the end of the year all Countdown supermarkets will be plastic-free.
I can refill my empty shampoo and dishwash bottles at a shop up the road and take empty jars from my pantry to fill at the bulk bins.
Even so, every two weeks our recycling is collected and without fail we fill up the 240 litre bin-on-wheels with all sorts of plastic, paper and glass.
When these blue-lidded bins arrived years ago I felt proud of how good our family was at recycling but now I feel the weight of consumption with every empty bottle or packet.
I’ve worked out my household sends 208 two-litre plastic milk bottles to the recycling plant every year but we now know recycling plants can’t keep up with the amount of plastic we’re sending their way.
Everyday people like me are doing the maths, working out our footprint on the environment and trying to find ways to reduce it. And maybe signing a petition.
When it comes to milk, reusable glass bottles make sense but the products available are priced at the premium end of the market – $6 or more per litre – and you have to know where it’s sold. In Auckland a few cafes sell glass-bottled milk.
What would it take for the big dairy businesses to stop using plastic bottles?
One clever competitor could disrupt the market and my hopes are pinned on Happy Cow Milk 2.0.
After Happy Cow Milk Company went into liquidation in April founder Glen Herud received so much support for his dream of creating a more ethical and sustainable dairy model that he didn’t throw the towel in.
Since I last wrote about the company, Herud, a Rangiora dairy farmer, has started looking for farmers to partner with who’d supply milk they could process on-site with their own mobile cowshed. Herud created a system that dramatically reduces the set-up cost of pasteurising milk. The milk would be bottled in re-usable glass.
In an update on Happy Cow Milk’s Facebook page Herud says he wants to make it so ordinary people who have a little bit of land or a lot of land can supply their local market. He says 20 farmers with 120 cows each would be a good start for a national footprint.
The idea sounds like common sense – the model in theory would be profitable for farmers and local delivery would make the price of milk more affordable for consumers.
If these Happy Cow herds can be found it will be up to consumers to back the new dairy model. Just like taking reusable bags to the supermarket we might need to take glass bottles to a recycling station.
It will take commitment from consumers to make it work but I suspect many people would go the extra little mile to reduce plastic in their households.
Could one clever competitor really change an industry that revolves around mass production and shareholder returns?
If it’s financially viable for farmers then it’s possible a more ethical and sustainable dairy model could take off over time, as long as consumers support it.
Change is rarely easy. I’ve forgotten my reusable supermarket bags twice in the last few weeks but I’m committed to reducing plastic in our household.
I’ve said it before – I’ll get behind any dairy company that offers glass-bottled milk at a competitive and sustainable price. And despite the small petition, I suspect thousands of others would too.
